Karuna During Corona
reaching those in need during the shutdown
So what does an organisation whose mandate is to “create partnerships for change” do during a lock down? (Twenty three months and we’re somewhat open!). All of our work is about being present with the most marginalised persons, networking ideas and supporting community-based social enterprises and learning that helps people control their future.
So what does an organisation do?
In this time of physical distancing we are adapting – rapidly – to a constantly changing situation, and doing everything in our power to keep helping the most vulnerable and marginalised people. We’ve noticed that many other NGOs are in the same boat – and are attending global support exchanges – discussing issues and developing program ideas to try in our locale.
We are grateful to all our friends, donors, volunteers and fellow networkers who continue to support our work and make these adaptations possible.
Ladakhipedia – a Wikipedia-like platform to share history, traditions and geography of kids’ home villages. It gives school children an opportunity to learn 21st Century skills while learning the local storytelling, weaving patterns, migration stories – and even water changes as climate changes. And then share it with other student groups anywhere around the world.
Karuna during Corona – 21 days of ideas for kids out of school to “help remove harm or suffering from others” – but also meaning “self-compassion”. A one-hour-per-day learning idea shared through text messages for remote villages and Facebook shares to others. From cooking with your grandfather to doing a scatter graph of whose ploughing when across the district. It gives children a break from doing homework sheets all day, every day – and share their videos back with Karuna (Caring) Central.
Yountan Yargyas MeshNet – thanks to our wonderful Youth Conservation Corps Team we are building an offline learning system that will allow everyone to learn – from their homes during lockdown and from a towerless village during shut downs.
With help from Kiwix and volunteer coders, we have a platform that can handle Ladakhi winters and high winds, lack of electricity and more dust than found on the moon. The Team is busy building local content and coding the best global resources.
Come visit our Facebook learning page or our regular YouTube learning channel for daily health information, fun experiments to reinforce that information and some wonderful village activities to take advantage of being in your home community this spring.